Judges at the International Criminal Court have called on the U.N. Security Council to “take the necessary measures” to tackle Sudan’s persistent refusal to arrest the country’s president and send him to The Hague to stand trial on charges of orchestrating genocide in Darfur.

It was the Security Council that called on the Hague-based court in 2005 to investigate widespread atrocities in Darfur – a move that led to President Omar al-Bashir being charged with genocide.

The judges stressed Monday that “if there is no follow-up action” by the Security Council in cases it sends to the court, any referral “would never achieve its ultimate goal, namely, to put an end to impunity.” The International Criminal Court has no police force of its own to arrest suspects. SAPA